The Toolkit of the Product Owner
These are the tools of the product owner. Without them, I’ve made mistakes.
#1 of 4 from the product owner’s guide :
Tools | Requirements | Specifications | Share requirements and cost
I go back to my job interview:
“What tools do you use in your day-to-day work as a product owner?”
Honestly, there hasn’t been a single time when a recruiter hasn’t asked me this question.
At first it was intimidating, because I didn’t know to what extent I should say or not say, if I mastered a tool.
Now, after 5 years in product management, this question is a formality.
But if you’re here, it’s because you want to become a product owner, or that you’re just starting out in the profession.
You don’t know all the tools.
So you need to know what you need to learn.
Most of the tools are fee-based, but the good news is that most have a free personal version.
Which means you can take the time to discover them at your own pace.
The 5 major difficulties I experienced as a novice product owner
- I encountered communication difficulties because the backlog was poorly prioritized.
- I wasn’t able to keep track of requirements and decisions, even though the work was supposed to be going in a different direction.
- I needed help in reading product analytics, and consequently in prioritizing functionalities.
- I made mistakes in project planning.
- I had trouble keeping track of project progress.
I assure you, these mistakes are common to many product owners. They don’t all affect the project, and they often only last one sprint.
I recognize that sometimes it takes a little longer to avoid repeating them, or even years for them to disappear.
Sometimes I still get my brain in knots over the planning, because the dependencies are always moving.
Other times, I get so caught up in another task that I lose track of the development progress.
And then I have to stop everything and really take the time to catch up.
Tools that helped me achieve my goals
1. I want to organize my time
Calendar so I don’t miss any meetings and plan my time blocks.
Google Calendar, Notion Calendar, Apple Calendar,…
2. I want to manage my backlog and tasks
Jira to track project progress and provide tasks to the team.
Asana, Monday, Notion, Excel
3. I want to prototype ideas or build interfaces
Figma to create all visual representations and specifications
4. I want to exchange and collaborate
Chat to communicate with my team and other people remotely.
Google Chat, Slack,…
Videoconferencing for face-to-face exchanges.
Google Meet, Teams, Zoom,…
Whiteboard to facilitate project preparation and remote workshops.
Miro, Klaxoon, FigJam,…
5. I want to keep important information
Mail for formal exchanges and tracking important decisions.
Gmail, other
Confluence (or any other internal company tool) to annotate everything concerning the life of the project.
Notion, Google Drive, other in-house tools
6. I want to analyze data
Google Analytics to track my product data and make decisions. thanks to data
7. I want to collect ideas and track user feedback
Google Forms to create free questionnaires and user interviews.
Bugtracker to track bug reports.
Mantis, Zoho, Google Forms
Important things to remember
That’s a lot of tools to know, but they’ll really help you in your communication and collaboration with the team.
Let me explain:
The team is probably already used to using these tools. So that means you’re taking existing processes into account. This will really facilitate exchanges and understanding, and make life easier for you.
You’ll gain greater control over your backlog management and planning. The team, and even the teams around you, will see just how well you’re able to organize and monitor achievements.
This mastery is reassuring, gives you greater legitimacy and therefore makes your day-to-day work easier.
Does it really work?
Yes, knowing these tools works for your day-to-day work as a product owner.
Personally, since I’ve been piloting my product using data, recording all exchanges and decisions, planning and communicating. My life as a product owner is much easier.
Even better, I have the reputation of being a rigorous and exemplary product owner.
I’m not looking for honors, but I never turn down a crown :)
So I can only urge you to take an interest in these tools and try them out for yourself.
Share with me if you have other tools in mind or if you’d like a dedicated article on a tool! It might be useful to focus on a particular need.
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